During the normal daily life of most dogs or cats, a small amount of its coat is naturally ejected and is subsequently replaced by a natural processes. However, most dogs or cats have a shedding period wherein most of the coat falls out and is replaced. During this shedding period, the animal appears shaggy, splotchy and generally unkept in appearance.
Much time and effort has been directed to alleviating the problem created by this shedding. In general, there has been proposed essentially two (2) methods of enhancing the growth of the coat during peak shedding periods for the dogs or cats. These methods can be classified as physical and essentially chemical.
The physical method for enhancing the growth of the coat of dogs and cats consists of several approaches. The most widely used approach is to simply brush or pluck the coat and thus stimulate the skin and the fallicles to enhance the growth thereof. Another approach is to add an oil substance to the skin and/or coat to enhance the growth and appearance thereof. Additionally, it has also been the practice to wrap the coat with strips of impervious material, such as waxed paper, foil, etc., to enhance the growth thereof.
The chemical method of enhancing the growth consists of orally administering to the dog or cat a wide variety of materials to enhance the growth and/or appearance of the coat. This includes the administering of vitamins, such as vitamin E, B.sub.1 and B.sub.12 and the like. Another approach has been proposed which consists of adding carbohydrates in any convenient form desirable. Another approach has been to add proteins to the diet of the animal to enhance the growth and/or appearance of the coat. Other approaches have been tried without any notable success.
Each of these methods has had some degree of success, but each lacks the essential feature of fast replacement of the coat lost during the shedding periods of the animal.